Improvement in the construction of furnaces for smelting iron ore



No. 1,396. l TATENTED 00T. s1, 1.839. V

A. ROT-H. CONSTRUCTION 0T TURNAGES TOR SMELTTNG TRON 03T.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

v AUG. ROTH, vOF POTTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION 0F FURNACES FOR SMELTING IRON ORE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1,396, dated October 3l, 1839.

To @ZZ whom, z'fb may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS ROTH, of Pottsville,in the county of Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduse Vful Improvement in the Furnace for Smelting ment consists, first, in a certain new and use# ful construction and arrangement of several furnaces by which a new and beneficial effect is produced, the upper part of the charge-iba ing prevented from descending rapidly ,upon the lower part, which is effected by contracting the fire-chambers in the center; und, second, in increasing the draft by conveying'the several. 'lines into one long 'line extending from the top of the last furnace of the stack to the chimney; third, in placing a boiler in said flue for creating steam by the w aste heat of the furnaccs sufficient to Work an engine for making the blast of the fur11aces,which is first driven by said engine through pipes placed in the before-mentioned extended flue, where it is heated, and then through said pipes leading through reservoirs of cold Water, where the temperature of the same is regulated previous to passing through the tuyercs to the crucibles of the furnaces; and, fourth, in conveying, by the powerof saidengine, a column of cold air through a tube around the tuyere for preventing the same being burned out rapidly by the intensity of the heat in the smeltin g operation.

To enable others skilled in the art of making furnaces to make and construct one on my plan, T will proceed to describe the mode of constructing and operating` one containing four fire-rooms.

Figure l in the annexed drawings is a perspective front view of the combined furnaces, the draft-regulating doors being shut, the furnace in operating,and the boiler generating steam for an engine. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of said furnaces through the center thereof, showing the interior of thesame Fig. 3, a sectional View of one of the tuyeres, showing the pipes for conveying the air around the same.

Similar letters refer to similar partsin the several figures.

To illustrate my invention, I Will here describe a combination of four furnaces, it being understood that the number may beincreased or diminished, as may be deemed expedient.

The furnaces are all'contained in a body of masonry called a stack,77 (marked A,)of any required length, breadth, and thickness. In this masonry are constructed the crucibles D, which are made of any required length,breadth, and depth, rising` from the hearths h to the lower part of the boshes att' t'. The nre-chambers B resemble two truncated ovals placed endwise together, or a single truncated oval contracted in the center at dd, and extending from i t' to E E, where it curves, as at F, con tracts and unites with the long horizontal flue G. There will thus be two boshes in each lirechamber. The object of contracting the fireroomat d d is to prevent the upper part of the charge from descending With its whole Weight upon the lower part, and thus obstructing the draftvand preventing the free escape of the light substances upward into the atmosphere, which is effected by the gradually-approaching sides of the upperboshes at pp, upon which the upper portion of the charge is in part sus tained, and prevented from descending too suddenly. rlhe crucibles and boshes are lined, in the usual mam1er,with brick or clay. The tuyercs O are inserted at any convenient parts of the crucibles.

The long horizontal iiueG is a continuation horizont-ally of flue F from fire-room B at one end of the stack to a chimney, H, at the other end of the stack, which flue, being the longest, Will, of course, havethe strongest draft. The branchflues F2, F3, and F, leading from the tops of the other fire-rooms into the horizontal flue G,Will have more or less draft in proportion as they are farther from or near to the chimney, one having a tendency to increase the draft of the other by thus leading into and uniting With each other, such increased draft being essentially necessary in separating the light substances from the ore, and passing the same into the atmosphere, which is effected through the chimney H.

The boiler T, for generating steam for creating the bast, &c is made in the usual manner, and s placed in the horizontal flue G near the chirmey H, and is heated by lthe Waste heat passing through said flue.

The engine is also of the ordinary construction, and therefore need not be represented or described.

' Above each of the upper boshes in' the ma-l sonry there is left an opening foi` charging the furnaces with the fuel, and one of which open'- ings isclosed by doorsE, which also serve.

These tubes are united by a coupling-box, b,

to a single tube, K, through'which the'cold air to be heated is forcedby the steam-engine, the cold air entering at e. The other ends of 'the parallel tubes I'are united by another coupling-boX`,g,to another single tube,L,which conveys the air when heated `through the tuyeres to the furnaces. The air, however, beforeentering the furnaces is made to pass. through branch pipes M, passing throughreservoirs N of water (represented by dotted lines) for imparting to the air a proper degree of temperature, which reservoirs are kept lled with running cold water supplied by the engine, or from other reservoirs placed above them, or by any other means preferred.

The rapid destruction of the tuyeres by the heat is prevented, by a column bf cold air 'forced around them by the `steam engine through a pipe, P, having branch pipes, they air entering at e. Fig. 3 shows the air-pipe passing around one of the tuyeres, which is made of cast-iron andfmarked O.

A hinged damper, Q, is placed at the top of' the chimney for regulating thev draft, and is operated by means of a cord, l, and pulley m Whenever required.

The furnaces are charged through the doors- E, and the melted metal is drawn o' at the bottom of the hearths in the .usual manner.

'. Having described the construction and op' eration of my improved furnace for smeltingi ores, I Will now state what. I claim as my invention and desireto secure' by Letters Pat-.- ent.

1. The arrangement of the fire-chambers or' boshes opening into one horizontal iiu'e above, in combination with the boiler for generating.l steam and the pipes I I, for heating the blast, placed in said lue,th'e Whole being constructed. and operating as described.

2.l The method of constructing the fire-chain bers by contracting them at .the center, fo 11 n ing two boshes in each chamber for causingthe charge to dcscendgradually, so as not to obstruct the draft and prevent theascent of the lighter substances, as before described.

AUGUST. ROTH,

Witnesses:

EDivrD. MAKER, -WMt l. ELLIOT. 

